Stranger

by Stephen Smith

Gav's a dope-grower - the best gear in Sydney - and he's connected to the local kingpin, Biggsy. But it's a world that's starting to bore him stupid. Then he gets a hysterical call from Julie, his girlfriend, saying his best friend Wayne has her at knifepoint and is threatening to rape her if he doesn't come round with $10 000. Wayne is insane, a speed addict from hell. Gav doesn't know it, but Wayne and Julie have been sleeping together and the phone call is the start of a plot to get their hands on Gav's stash: his money and his dope. When Gav turns up, Wayne goes ballistic and beats him to a pulp. He and Julie race out west from Sydney in Gav's car - further and further into the bush, till all they get is red dust and barred-up towns, suspicion and madness. Gav's heart is broken, his nose has been beaten into his face, his business is destroyed, and all he can think of is revenge - on the both of them. Lucky he's met one of Biggsy's debt collectors who boasts of the hits he's done. Trouble is he's never actually killed anyone. But for $10 000 he'll give it a go. No worries. Genuinely original, fresh and wild, Stranger is a tale of madness, a true rollercoaster ride, an intoxicating cross between Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and Trainspotting.

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name
For other authors of this name, see:

Stephen Smith - American Surgeon, Public Health
Stephen Smith - African Studies
Stephen Smith - Contemporary Non Fiction, Journalism

Reviews

[Guy Salvidge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm being a little generous with the rating, but this is something endearing about this book. It's somewhere in the vicinity of McGahan's Praise, full of drug-addled young people living in and around Sydney. As a crime novel, it definitely loses steam about half way through. The characters are a bit homogeneous but Julie is the best of them. The ending is weak and I had the feeling in the final third that the author didn't know how to bring matters to a conclusion. Some of the side trips, such as regarding the hippy stoners, were more interesting than the main storyline.

[David Bigger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story and was intrigued by these flawed characters all caught up in this situation.

A little disappointed in the ending and thought it could have climaxed more. A great read nevertheless.